A Survey on Medical Document Summarization: From Machine Learning Techniques to Large Language Models

The widespread adoption of the Internet has transformed healthcare by enabling the digital storage, sharing, and management of medical documents. This shift has improved information access, enhanced patient care, and opened new avenues for research and innovation. As the volume of medical data available to clinicians and patients continues to grow, the need for effective summarization methods becomes increasingly critical. Recent breakthroughs in deep learning—particularly the emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs)—have further accelerated progress in this area. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of current techniques and emerging trends in medical document summarization.